I Thot You Was a Toad's manga / #inheritance(5)

Hot butler and sweet kid fend their way through the vultures of culture in Maruya Kae's gorgeous art style.

Ryou, a friend from Ayato's childhood, collapses from fever on his doorstep one rainy night, provoking Ayato's suspicious roommates, whose sole existence functions as a Greek Chorus (or Disney-like cute animal sidekicks) to provide running commentary on Ayato's and Ryou's every move. Ryou assures everyone that he will only impose on them for a month, but after The Roommates investigate him, his obvious attraction to Ayato is revealed in an entirely different light, one dominated by ancestry, inheritances and arranged marriages. The story begins in media res, which makes for an interesting nonlinear start, but promises much more dramatic content than is delivered. In fact, the story seems to be more about the civil resolution of potential conflict and the dampening down of emotional tensions, than grand operatic gestures. Even the jealous roommate subplot, where he simmers with lust for Asato and boils with rage at Ryou, fizzles and evaporates into a whole bunch of ado about nothing. If the reader wants a calm, steady, gentle story about gay attraction, this will soothe and placate. My beef is that mangaka and author were entirely too coy about the sex scenes. Curtains did not need to be drawn shut, and a little more tension in the bedroom would've made up for the lack of fireworks elsewhere.

Bildungsroman about a young man whose life revolves around the love hotel his late father left behind, the sense of pride he takes in its purpose and the censure he picks up from others. Throw into this mix a gay romance whose premise is based upon an impulsive lie he told to protect a younger brother whom he believed to be in peril from someone he believed to be a predator, and you have an excellent, thoroughly believable story with sympathetic characters who are doing the best with the fate they were dealt. Fantastic story! Definitely a favourite.

Touma doesn't want to make traditional sweets and inherit his father's shop. His father, a Japanese sweet-maker, is offended by that and won't talk to him. French loverboy follows Touma back to Japan and asks to be taken in as an apprentice.

Mystery, intrigue and family drama surround Touru, when he inherits the family fortune out from under the noses of greedy relatives, one of whom he must choose as a guardian, as his grandfather and benefactor wills, in order to create a family for himself. While confiding his plight to Tsukitani, his caustic prep school teacher, Touru discovers he has one last relative upon whom he can depend, but Tsukitani can't stand the smell of the Agake house and business on him, not even on his clothing, so family entails a makeover on fundamental levels.